


Making Arrangements

by chicago_ruth



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: M/M, Mild Humor, Missing Scene, background mentions of Elias/Jon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-18
Updated: 2018-11-18
Packaged: 2019-08-20 22:59:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16564766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chicago_ruth/pseuds/chicago_ruth
Summary: Elias makes arrangements for his unknown future. Peter Lukas obliges, in his infuriating way.





	Making Arrangements

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Alias (anafabula)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/anafabula/gifts).



> Set shortly before the Season 3 finale. Mentions of one sided Elias/Jon and one sided Martin/Jon.

Elias watched while Peter drank his tea. It was a blend that Peter liked—he’d never mentioned it to Elias, but Elias knew anyway, so Elias had bought it. Not a particularly exciting use of his ability, but it never hurt to butter up the Institute’s sponsors.

Peter never expressed surprise when Elias presented him with an exotic treat. Over the years, he must have become used to it.

It wasn’t the first time Elias had invited Peter to his home. They rarely met outside of the Institute, given Peter’s work and preference for isolation, but over the years they’d developed a professional relationship with each other.

“It’s an interesting proposition,” Peter said. He set his mug down onto the coffee table. A bit of tea sloshed over the side onto the table, most probably on purpose. Peter did so like to annoy Elias. “You aren’t worried what I’ll do to your employees?”

“There’s a high probability that some of them won’t make it back from the Unknowing, so they’ll be a non-issue. As for the rest—I’d ask you to please not break my Archivist, but feel free to have your way with the others.” Elias’s gaze landed on one of the many eye paintings on the wall. “I’ll be watching, of course.”

Peter snorted in amusement and settled back in the couch, crossing one leg over his thigh. “That makes me want to pay extra special attention to the Archivist. Jon, is it?”

“Yes, it is. But trust me: Jon wouldn't be to your tastes. He’s never truly alone these days. May I suggest Martin instead? He has a deep fear of isolation that he isn’t truly aware of yet. And his crush on Jon means he’s unlikely to find an alternate lifeline for himself.” Elias paused, considering whether to mention Martin’s burgeoning affinity for the Spiders, and then decided against it. Peter would discover it for himself, or he wouldn’t. 

“Ah, I remember him. You’re right, there’s room to have fun with him. I believe he said you should murder less. You should know better than to murder, Elias.”

That did sound like something Martin would say. Elias had an itch to pull that memory out of Martin’s mind, but he had more important things to worry about. The unknown future, one where he wasn’t actively a part of the Institute—not apart from it, never apart—burned on the edges of his own mind. Jon was plotting something, but Jon’s mind and memories were becoming more and more inaccessible to him. He missed the days when he could spy on Jon with ease, even while his body turned feverish with lust when he thought of Jon as he was now, as he was becoming.

Peter coughed loudly, interrupting Elias’s thoughts.

“Well, if you manage to avoid murder, you’ll be boss of the year,” Elias said with as straight a face as he could muster. “What’s your current no-murder streak?”

“I had a very bad time two years ago. Taxes, if you can believe it, catching up to the shipping business. Government red tape kept the _Tundra_ off the seas for far too long.” Peter chuckled darkly. “I had to make up the difference. Quite a bit of work, that.”

“I can imagine.” 

Peter picked up his mug and drank; when he was done, he set it down right on the spilled tea from earlier. “I assume your assistant has been informed?”

“Yes. Rosie will assist you as she does me. She’s very good at scheduling, and knows the Institute’s inner workings inside and out. Just be careful not to bend her mind too much, it’s already under significant strain.” Elias hesitated, idly picking at the edges of Peter’s mind. There was nothing there, of course, only the sensation that he shouldn’t be there at all.

Peter quirked an eyebrow at him. “Elias, old friend. You know you can trust me with the Institute. There’s really no need to worry. My master is as invested in the Institute as yours. You really don’t need to go poking around where you don’t belong.”

Elias was too well-informed to believe that particular lie. None of the entities did anything without personal gain, and he had no doubt that his absence from the Institute would create the kind of chaos that would be more than a minor headache to clean up. More irritating than Prentiss, but less world-ending than the Unknowing.

He simply didn’t want to let go of the Institute. His metaphysical grip on the Institute was as tight as ever, of course, but even allowing another person to run the day-to-day operations chafed. He’d been the sole person in charge for so long that he had no interest in sharing that responsibility.

“Maybe I won’t need your services at all,” Elias said.

“One can only hope,” Peter responded, although from his tone it was clear he fully expected Elias to be deposed. “Now, if that’s all the paperwork done? I thought we could have a bit of fun before we wait for the world to end. Or not end.”

Elias ate the last cookie, fully aware that Peter had wanted it, and considered. He wasn’t attracted to Peter in the strictest sense—these days there was only one person who featured in Elias’s baser fantasies—but there was never any harm in some stress relief. “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather masturbate alone?”

“Most definitely,” Peter answered jovially, “But you look like you could use a fuck.”

“It has been quite a while. I’ve been busy, you understand, trying to prevent the Stranger from completely altering the fabric of our world.”

“From what I understand, you’ve mostly been sitting in the sidelines doing nothing,” Peter countered. “But no matter. Your strengths were never action.”

“Where would the world be without historians and scholars to record all the ways we’ve already failed? And surely there is more value in Watching the world than in simply existing outside of it?” Elias tipped his head at Peter. “Now, if we’re done with petty insults, we can repose to my bedroom. I’m finding myself intrigued by the idea of watching you masturbate.”

Peter set his mug on another part of the coffee table, creating yet another wet ring, and then stood. “Sure, sounds like fun. But I’ll insist on the lights off. The décor in your bedroom is downright eerie. Has anybody told you how unsettling all those eyes are? They’re very unsettling. I don’t know how you sleep in there.”

“I can hardly watch you with the lights off. No, they stay on, but you can close your eyes and pretend you’re alone in the middle of the ocean.” Elias resigned himself to water stains on the coffee table. The least Peter could do was give him a good show.

It might be the last live show Elias got to experience for a long while.


End file.
